CONCORD, N.H. (WMUR) – For the second time in less than two weeks, the display put up by the Satanic Temple outside the New Hampshire Statehouse has been vandalized.
Corinne Stanley says she watched a man in sweats trash the statue.
“I mean, he seemed intent, at the very least, to destroy it, to tear it down,” Stanley described. “It takes a lot to bend a flag pole over your knee, so he was quite angry.”
The Satanic Temple, which touts core beliefs like compassion, justice and personal freedom, got a permit from the city of Concord for the nativity display.
Its members said the repeated targeting of the statue shows a hostility towards non-mainstream faiths.
“There are people around here who aren’t willing to allow people, such as myself, to express my religious views and the religious views of countless others who want to be able to celebrate and believe in what they believe in,” Satanic Temple member Bear Saxby said.
It’s far from the only religious display set up in the public space for the holiday season.
Some members of the Satanic Temple said if their statue isn’t welcome, none of them should be.
“The fact that a manger is a-OK, but a small little tiny statue of Baphomet that’s one-20th the size isn’t?” member Brandon Noel asked. “Not kosher.”
Copyright 2024 WMUR via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.